Kulinarische Radtour 9: Altmünster - Gschwandt

Municipal office Altmünster - Gmunden - Traunuferweg - Marienbrücke - Leitenbauernweg - Grafing - In der Edt - Mostschenke Hoidinger
14 km (total distance: 28 km, outward journey 14 km, return journey 14 km)

Elevation gain: 119 m

From Altmünster town hall, we cycle left down Marktstraße to the subway to the lakeside promenade, keep left and cycle past the campsite. Then we have to cycle back up to the B145 and turn right onto the cycle path to Gmunden. After passing the outdoor swimming pools in Altmünster and Gmunden, we reach Toscanapark. Here you should make a detour to the Seehotel Schloss Ort. Ort Castle (also spelt Orth until the early 20th century) is a complex of two castles on Lake Traunsee and is located on the island of Ort in the village of Ort in the town of Gmunden in Upper Austria. It consists of the better-known lake castle on an island in Lake Traunsee and the country castle connected via the bridge. The lake castle is one of the oldest buildings in the Salzkammergut. (see Tour 1; source: Wikipedia).

Now we cycle further along the lakeside promenade into the pedestrian zone of Gmunden to the town hall square, where the boat landing stage is also located. We continue on the R4 cycle path, which runs under the Traunbrücke bridge. After a short time, we see the Marienbrücke bridge in front of us, which we cross after mastering a somewhat steep ascent. On the other side, we keep left and follow the well-signposted R4 cycle path to the B144 (Linzer Straße). We turn left again and cycle along the cycle path alongside the road until we reach Dr Majer Maschinenbau on the right-hand side of the road. There we cross the road and cycle uphill on the Leitenbauernweg. We now follow the R4 cycle path, cross the B120 and pass the hamlet of Steig. We then leave the R4 cycle path and turn right onto the farm track to Grafing. We cycle round the Weber riding centre there in a left-hand bend and after a short time come to a crossroads. Here we follow the signs for In der Edt and take the Grund goods road. After a few metres, we see the signs for In der Edt again and turn left here. We then cross the main road in a straight line and take a sharp right at the next houses. Now a short distance up the hill to the next crossroads, where we turn right towards Gschwandt. Our destination, the Hoidinger cider tavern, is now ahead of us on the left-hand side

At Hoidinger you can not only get a hearty snack and a refreshing cider. The farm also has another speciality in store as a so-called Ark farm. Native animal breeds threatened with extinction are kept and cared for here, as described below.

The route back to Altmünster is a little different. There are a number of farm tracks here, all of which are very pleasant to cycle on. First, we cycle back to Grafing via Edt, this time round the riding centre in a right-hand bend and, after a short descent, join the R4 cycle path. We keep left in the direction of Scharnstein, Grünau and Vorchdorf. During the ride, we have a beautiful view of the Traunstein and the Höllengebirge mountains.

After the houses, which we soon reach, we follow the R4 cycle path and turn right. After a small railway crossing, we turn left and cross the B120. Via Leitenbauernweg and the short descent that goes with it, we reach Linzer Straße, which we cross. We leave the R4 cycle path and first turn right and then, after a short stretch, left towards the sewage treatment plant. Now we have to be careful, because after about 400 metres we should see signs for a turn-off to Theresienthal, which leads off to the right onto a small path. If we follow this path, we come to the Traun bridge on the northern bypass of Gmunden. The bridge was completely renovated in 2020, which means that the cycle path leading over the bridge was also widened, making it much easier for cycle tourists. After crossing the bridge, we reach Kleinreith after just a few metres and a small climb. Once on the road, we keep left and see the Altmühl inn ahead of us on the left-hand side.

We cycle on towards Gmunden, follow the signs for the railway station on the right and cycle past the Gmunden recycling centre and then past the railway station to Altmünster. After passing the "Traunsteinstadion" sports facility of FC Altmünster, we cross under the railway line and turn left onto Kalvarienbergweg to Gasthof Hocheck, where we can review the tour.

Now we only need to follow Marktstraße downhill until we reach our starting point at the Altmünster town hall.